Easy-To-Understand Labels

Because many edibles need to be purchased and planted before they bloom, many homeowners lack the understanding needed to make informed purchasing decisions about fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Horticultural Identification Products (HIP) has a solution: pot wraps that picture the blooming product they’re buying. If a pot contains strawberries, for example, HIP has wraps with a picture of strawberries. The word “strawberries” also appears front and center on the wrap, and the simplicity should help consumers.

HIP teamed with Kraemer’s Nursery (Ore.) on the wraps, and Kraemer’s reports a 30 percent increase in fruit plant pre-order for spring. Kraemer’s attributes the increase directly to the new pot wraps.

With some of the newest, ground-breaking printing technology and options available on the market, HIP’s Lovejoy says pot wraps can be designed to fit the unique angles, sizes and shapes of most any brand’s pots.

From flexible labelers to tags that provide vital plant information to consumers, plant tag and label manufacturers discuss the biggest needs that growers have today when it comes to tags and labels, and how their new products are addressing these needs.

Tags and labels today need to add more than just visual appeal. They carry helpful information that can educate and inspire the consumer, adding value to your products. Check out these new options in tag and label technology.

From flexible labelers to tags that provide vital plant information to consumers, plant tag and label manufacturers discuss the biggest needs that growers have today when it comes to tags and labels, and how their new products are addressing these needs.

Tags and labels today need to add more than just visual appeal. They carry helpful information that can educate and inspire the consumer, adding value to your products. Check out these new options in tag and label technology.

New technology in on-demand printing will soon be available to growers from Primera Technology Incorporated. The GP3000, a new on-demand, full-color tag, stake and label printer, prints on both sides of tags, stakes and labels with inks that are highly water- and UV-resistant.

There are many ways for new technology to be integrated into plant tags, packaging and displays to better inform and engage the consumer. Andy Higgins of MasterTag shares some of the ways this is becoming a reality.

The plant you carefully cultivated catches the eye of the consumer. If the plant itself hasn’t already made the sale, the consumer looks to the tag and wonders, “Should I buy this plant?” Are your plant tags closing the sale? Research shows that the unassuming plant tag can carry its weight in the sales process. But tag printing and marketing experts say you will have more success with your tags with a shift in your thinking: Tags are an informational and marketing tool for the consumer. “Growers have looked at tags as a necessary evil because, as an industry, we have produced grower tags not consumer tags,” says Rick Vulgamott, director of sales at John Henry. “Tags were always difficult for growers because they just did not want to deal with the process.” Bob Lovejoy, president of HIP Labels, agrees. “Too often, a tag is looked at from a cost […]

Stover Manufacturing, LLC is now offering a real-time plant tag solution to wholesale greenhouse/nursery growers and garden center retailers in the U.S. The primary product focus is an in-house turnkey roll label system comprised of a printer, software, label substrate, and print supplies. Stover Manufacturing was formed by three of the industry’s experts on horticulture identification in order to fulfill the particular demand and opportunities that roll labels have for growers and retailers. Stover Manufacturing’s leadership team is comprised of Gary Stover, Mike McClure, and Robert Grooms. Each has decades of experience in the roll label segment. “We have a unique business model with our dedicated approach to roll labels,” says President Robert Grooms. “Our turnkey system provides competitive edges for customers with flexibility, on-demand, cost efficiency, customization, and back up support and service. We’ve designed a one-stop, real-time tag solution.” The system’s advantage is its ability to be produced […]

Ed Overdevest is working toward a solution for a problem that is a thorn in the side of growers everywhere — thousands of dollars of unused plant tags sitting for years in the tag room. By implementing a plan that includes in-house printing for tags that take more than two years to use up and commercial printing for only high-turnover, high-volume plants, Overdevest is slowly whittling down his tag inventory as well as the carrying costs involved in storing many years’ worth of unused tags. “The cost of in-house printing is pretty significant on a per-unit basis compared with a comparable tag printed commercially,” Overdevest says. “But when you factor in carrying costs, the money invested in tags just sitting there in inventory is pretty significant, and the waste we have in the case of tags that are obsolete is considerable. We also wrestle with relevance issues when tag style […]

MasterTag, a horticultural tag producer in Montague, Mich., announced the appointment of Nicholas P. Ferris to the role of President on February 1, 2012. Prior to joining MasterTag, Ferris was an executive with the leading supplier to the graphic arts industry. MasterTag CEO Rick Hughes expressed his excitement about adding Ferris to his management team: “Nick’s professional experience, knowledge and enthusiastic personality, coupled with his role as a trusted advisor to our company, made for an exceptional opportunity to strengthen our company management.” Ferris also spoke about his eagerness to join the company. “MasterTag has a rich history serving the horticultural market, with an energetic and committed organization. I am honored to have the opportunity to serve and lead the company,” Ferris said. “There is tremendous institutional knowledge, and a deep intellectual property base at MasterTag. Our goal will be to leverage this content by providing customers with enhanced methods […]

Greenhouse floriculture is largely an unchanging industry, but it’s one Rick Vulgamott argues must change. Vulgamott, who spent the bulk of his 25-plus-year career working for the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, has spent the last three years at the John Henry Company as its national director of sales. Greenhouse Grower recently caught up with Vulgamott to capture his thoughts on specific changes the industry must make and how John Henry is helping growers achieve these changes. GG: What keeps you up at night related to the greenhouse industry? RV: It could be a half dozen things. One, of course, is the economy. We always have to look at the economy as a factor in every aspect of our business. For years, horticulture was deemed recession proof. If the economy was bad, people stayed at home and worked in their yards. For years, we thought we were bulletproof, but the last few […]

Badger Tag & Label Corporation has developed an adhesive that performs like a permanent hold but is still repositionable. The adhesive can be cleanly removed from numerous surfaces, including metals, plastics, glass and paper. In addition to offering good adhesion and clean, long-term removability from smooth surfaces, it also adheres to some more challenging surfaces like Teflon, textured PVC and corrugated material. Badger is currently using the adhesive combined with a white polyester synthetic base stock but could offer it with other synthetic or paper stocks. The polyester material can withstand somewhat oily surfaces and still adheres well. It also withstands temperatures up to about 200°F without distortion or leaving adhesive residue behind. For more information, visit BadgerTag.com.

Catering to consumers who want–and need–more information about plants to be successful, MasterTag highlighted its new series of Snap Tags at the show. The tags are perforated to allow the consumer to tear off and stick one part of the tag into the garden or container to identify the plant. The rest of the tag contains helpful planting and care information and is designed to be kept as a handy reference for the gardener throughout the season. Some versions of the tag even have a third tear-off piece, designed to be used as a coupon for instant savings at the checkout, or for a future purchase. MasterTag’s Little Gardener tags take the design one step further, using cartoon characters and graphics to engage children. The backs of the tags have kid-friendly information about the plants, as well as activities parents and kids can do together.

3-D may be the biggest thing in the movie world this summer, but 2-D tags are definitely a hot new marketing technology at OFA Short Course. These square bar codes are popping up on plant tags and other marketing materials in several places throughout the show. 2-D tags are easily scanned by just about any smart phone and link the phone’s web browser to videos, fact sheets, and lots of other helpful information consumers may want or need about a product. John Henry, for example, has a new vegetable program incorporating the tag. Users scanning the bar code on the back of a vegetable or fruit plant tag are taken to AllRecipes.com for helpful preparation tips. MasterTag also had a display of the tags with links to planting and cooking instructions for vegetables and herbs.

The exciting news from the John Henry Company at OFA Short Course this year is a website it’s launching August 1 at BloomIQ.com. The website will provide ideas, tips and advice to consumers. John Henry is structuring the site on three pillars: collections, plants and reference. For collections, consumers can search for plants based on various categories like butterfly plants, deer-resistant plants and more. The idea is to introduce consumers to hundreds, if not thousands, of plants they currently don’t know about. The plants pillar gives the consumer the option to search for plants by color. Most consumers, of course, don’t know much about plants beyond which colors they like. So whether consumers are interested in oranges, purples, reds or yellows, they can search BloomIQ.com for their favorite color and be introduced to hundreds of colorful new plants for the first time. BloomIQ.com is particularly user friendly when searching for […]

Labeling has become a challenge in recent years, particularly for big box growers who have become more responsible for printing labels themselves. To meet the new demand, a few growers are turning to automation that pot manufacturers have primarily used: the Label Gator from Great Lakes Label. Label Gator is a complete line of automated barcode labeling equipment designed for greenhouse and nursery growers. It provides accurate label placement on a wide variety of growing containers, and key grower benefits are the elimination of pre-labeled pot inventories and less over-labeling. “We have all of the pot manufacturers using our equipment,” says Joe Gonnella, president of Great Lakes Label in Comstock Park, Mich. “The interesting thing about this product is when labeling requirements began to get more demanding, the pot makers stepped up to the plate and started pre-labeling pots. In terms of the volume, they are all using our equipment […]

In the shower. In the car. At the gym. At the bar. On a boat. On a date. In the greenhouse. Out of state. I could Dr. Seuss you to death with the number of places cell phone users are accessing Web information via their phones these days. Lost and need directions? Your phone will bail you out. On the road and in need of gas? The solution is at your fingertips. We’ve come to expect information instantly because of new technologies, and the expectation is no different for garden center customers. If consumers are seriously looking, for example, at petunias with a sign that merely lists their price and a few basic care tips, consumers are bound to have immediate questions and an urge for more information once they return home. Fortunately, 2D tag technologies like Microsoft Tags and QR (quick-response) codes are here and capable of serving as […]